The Transmigrated Farm Girl Has a Cheat Code

Chapter 131 Disaster

Upon arriving in the county, the streets, which should have been festive during the Spring Festival, were now deserted.

A biting wind howled through the streets, the market was deserted, and the red lanterns hanging in the streets were covered by heavy snow, with only their red edges showing. Most shops were closed, except for the grain shops, which were crowded with people.

"There are so many people!" Quan Sinian said, looking at the dense crowd in front of him.

They were all wrapped in thick cotton-padded clothes and lined up outside the grain shop, where two soldiers were guarding the entrance.

People didn't scramble for food; instead, they lined up in an orderly fashion, and their expressions showed no signs of panic. It seemed there was still enough stock, and the officers and soldiers could still be of use. If the food really ran out, even these two officers and soldiers would be useless.

"You line up first, I'm going to the Fu family's place," Lin Yan instructed.

"Okay," Quan Sinian replied, joining the queue at the back of the crowd.

Lin Yan didn't go to the restaurant to find Fu Bo, because she was sure the restaurant was already closed.

He went directly to the Fu family's residence, but couldn't find Fu Bo. The servant guarding the gate of the Fu family's residence knew Lin Yan and told her that Fu Bo and Master Fu had both gone to the county government office.

"The county government office?" Lin Yan's bad premonition grew stronger.

"Did something happen?"

The gatekeeper sighed, "The magistrate summoned him away."

“We’ve had snow for two days here, and it’s a bit cold, but not too bad. But Magistrate Li said that Jinning Prefecture to the north has had snow for more than half a month, and the temperature has plummeted, killing many people.”

"He was worried that the weather here would continue to drop in temperature and that people would freeze to death, so he started gathering the wealthy people in the county to discuss solutions."

He didn't say what they were talking about, but Lin Yan guessed it was about getting some money donated, since the disaster hadn't spread to Yun'an yet, it was just a precaution, and they couldn't apply for disaster relief funds.

Unfortunately, Rong'an County was still very poor. Apart from those who did business, everyone else was just barely making ends meet.

"I hope this rain stops here, or the thatched huts in the village will probably collapse," the servant said with some worry.

"And the wind is blowing so hard, ouch!" the servant said, shivering and shrinking back.

Lin Yan didn't continue. There were no disasters in the county yet, but if the weather continued like this, the outcome would be similar to that in the north.

Lin Yan went to find Quan Sinian with a lot of worries. He was still in line because the grain store had limited the purchases, and each person could only buy a maximum of fifty catties.

“We have enough rice, I’ll just buy wheat flour,” Quan Sinian said.

“Okay.” Lin Yan joined the queue next to him; the two of them could only buy 100 jin (50 kg).

However, she still had plenty of food in her storage space, enough to eat without worrying about running out. Her main purpose in coming to the county was to gather information.

Although no disaster has occurred in Yun'an yet, the situation is not optimistic.

Besides noodles, the two also bought some condiments like oil, salt, soy sauce, and vinegar. They didn't have much, so they just threw it on the horse and took it with them.

On the way back, Quan Si asked, "Lin Yan, did you go to ask for news?"

"Ah."

"How is it?" Quan Sinian asked with some concern.

“The Jinning Prefecture and Linzi Prefecture north of Yun’an started to experience a drop in temperature and heavy snow a month ago. The temperature plummeted and now there is a snow disaster, which has caused many people to freeze to death.”

"What?! Jinning! Isn't that right next to Huainan?" Quan Sinian's hometown is Luocheng Prefecture in Huainan.

Lin Yan said, "I haven't heard that Huainan was also affected by the disaster. The most important thing is that the Huainan region has always been prosperous, and the people and the government are relatively wealthy. Even if there is a snow disaster, the government can handle it."

Quan Sinian nodded in agreement, "That's right, as long as those officials aren't so incompetent, the snow disaster won't be able to bring down Huainan."

After all, snow disasters and floods are different from sudden, violent disasters; they give people time to react and are easier to resolve, especially if you have money.

"Jinning, like us, is a border area with a stagnant economy. People rely heavily on the weather for their livelihood, and the extreme cold can leave many poor families hungry and cold."

Quan Sinian felt very sad when he heard Lin Yan's thoughts, and only hoped that the snow in Yun'an would stop falling.

When the two got home, their clothes were soaked with snow, but luckily they were wearing thick clothes, so the cold air hadn't reached their feet.

Lin's mother and Madam Quan quickly sent someone back inside to change clothes to avoid catching a cold.

Upon learning that the two men could only buy 100 jin of flour, everyone's worries deepened. The rationing of food indicated that the people were uneasy and needed to stockpile grain as a precaution. The situation was not optimistic.

“There are eight of us. Even if we only eat wheat flour, we can last for a month or two. Besides, we have plenty of rice and grain. Don’t worry too much,” Quan Rongxing analyzed.

Upon learning the news from the county, the group lost interest in playing around and the men took brooms and went out to shovel snow.

Besides the courtyard, they also had to clean the distillery.

Li Zhongwei was inside the room, looking somewhat worried.

"Master, what are you thinking about?"

Li Zhongwei sighed, "When a large number of people die, it's easy for epidemics to break out. Although the spread of epidemics is slower in winter, people can still catch colds. Sigh!"

Let's wait for news!

Lin Yan looked out the window at the sky and prayed that the snow would stop falling.

Unfortunately, things didn't go as planned. In the middle of the night, Lin Yan was startled awake by the sound of wind and moonlight brushing against the window.

She got up and opened the lattice window leading to the balcony, her heart sinking. It was indeed snowing again outside.

The yard, which had been swept during the day, was once again covered in a blanket of white snow.

The snow, carried by the fierce wind, lashed against people's faces, shattering the festive atmosphere of the New Year.

The next day, when everyone woke up and saw snow falling all around them, their faces showed some worry, and the atmosphere at breakfast was heavy.

The snowstorm didn't stop until noon, and Lin's father and the others persevered in clearing the snow from the roof. The snow on the roof couldn't be too thick, otherwise it would easily freeze.

In the evening, I saw Li Dashu and Li Xiaocao trudging over through the snow.

"Ayan!" Li Xiaocao called from outside the door.

Lin Yan quickly went outside and saw that the lower half of both of their pants were already wet.

"Hurry inside, there's a brazier!" Lin Yan asked, urging people to come inside and warm themselves by the fire.

The two of them shivered as they entered the house. The snow was up to their knees, and the road was really difficult to walk on. It took them half an hour to get there.

I sat around two braziers in the room for a while before I recovered.

"Ayan, do you still have any food at home?" Because she was familiar with Lin Yan, Li Xiaocao didn't feel awkward.

"Yes. Quite a few."

“That’s great. My father hasn’t been driving these past two days, and we haven’t stocked up on any food. Things weren’t looking good, so my brother and I went to the county to buy some, but all the grain shops there were closed.”

"Closed?" Lin Yan was surprised. They were selling grain when they went there yesterday, but it was closed today.

Li Xiaocao lowered her eyes. "Yes, there are quite a few people causing trouble outside. The shopkeeper won't open the door, saying he's out of stock."

Lin Yan felt very heavy-hearted, but she didn't say anything.

He said to the two men, "We have leftover raw materials and a lot of rice from our previous brewing. You can take some back with you."

Seeing that the rice and grains had a source, Li Dashu breathed a sigh of relief and relaxed a bit.